set

n. 1. The act of setting, as of the sun or other heavenly body; descent; hence, the close; termination. “Locking at the set of day.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

The weary sun hath made a golden set. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is set, placed, or fixed. Specifically: -- (a) A young plant for growth; as, a set of white thorn. (b) That which is staked; a wager; a venture; a stake; hence, a game at venture. [ Obs. or R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

We will in France, by God's grace, play a set
Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

That was but civil war, an equal set. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) (Mech.) Permanent change of figure in consequence of excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.; as, the set of a spring. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) A kind of punch used for bending, indenting, or giving shape to, metal; as, a saw set. [ 1913 Webster ]

(e) (Pile Driving) A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot be reached by the weight, or hammer, except by means of such an intervening piece. [ Often incorrectly written sett. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

(f) (Carp.) A short steel spike used for driving the head of a nail below the surface. Called also nail set. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

3. [ Perhaps due to confusion with sect, sept. ] A number of things of the same kind, ordinarily used or classed together; a collection of articles which naturally complement each other, and usually go together; an assortment; a suit; as, a set of chairs, of china, of surgical or mathematical instruments, of books, etc. [ In this sense, sometimes incorrectly written sett. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A number of persons associated by custom, office, common opinion, quality, or the like; a division; a group; a clique. “Others of our set.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

This falls into different divisions, or sets, of nations connected under particular religions. R. P. Ward. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Direction or course; as, the set of the wind, or of a current. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. In dancing, the number of persons necessary to execute a quadrille; also, the series of figures or movements executed. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The deflection of a tooth, or of the teeth, of a saw, which causes the the saw to cut a kerf, or make an opening, wider than the blade. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (a) A young oyster when first attached. (b) Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Tennis) A series of as many games as may be necessary to enable one side to win six. If at the end of the tenth game the score is a tie, the set is usually called a deuce set, and decided by an application of the rules for playing off deuce in a game. See Deuce. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Type Founding) That dimension of the body of a type called by printers the width. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Textiles) Any of various standards of measurement of the fineness of cloth; specif., the number of reeds in one inch and the number of threads in each reed. The exact meaning varies according to the location where it is used. Sometimes written sett. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

12. A stone, commonly of granite, shaped like a short brick and usually somewhat larger than one, used for street paving. Commonly written sett. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

13. Camber of a curved roofing tile. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

14. The manner, state, or quality of setting or fitting; fit; as, the set of a coat. [ Colloq. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

15. Any collection or group of objects considered together. [ PJC ]

Dead set. (a) The act of a setter dog when it discovers the game, and remains intently fixed in pointing it out. (b) A fixed or stationary condition arising from obstacle or hindrance; a deadlock; as, to be at a dead set. (c) A concerted scheme to defraud by gaming; a determined onset. --
To make a dead set, to make a determined onset, literally or figuratively. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Collection; series; group. See Pair. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To pass below the horizon; to go down; to decline; to sink out of sight; to come to an end. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ere the weary sun set in the west. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thus this century sets with little mirth, and the next is likely to arise with more mourning. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fit music to words. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant. “To sow dry, and set wet.” Old Proverb. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form; as, cuttings set well; the fruit has set well (i. e., not blasted in the blossom). [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened. [ 1913 Webster ]

A gathering and serring of the spirits together to resist, maketh the teeth to set hard one against another. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To congeal; to concrete; to solidify; -- of cements, glues, gels, concrete, substances polymerizing into plastics, etc. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To have a certain direction in motion; to flow; to move on; to tend; as, the current sets to the north; the tide sets to the windward. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To begin to move; to go out or forth; to start; -- now followed by out. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king is set from London. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To indicate the position of game; -- said of a dog; as, the dog sets well; also, to hunt game by the aid of a setter. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To apply one's self; to undertake earnestly; -- now followed by out. [ 1913 Webster ]

If he sets industriously and sincerely to perform the commands of Christ, he can have no ground of doubting but it shall prove successful to him. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. To fit or suit one; to sit; as, the coat sets well. [ Colloquially used, but improperly, for sit. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The use of the verb set for sit in such expressions as, the hen is setting on thirteen eggs; a setting hen, etc., although colloquially common, and sometimes tolerated in serious writing, is not to be approved. [ 1913 Webster ]

To set about, to commence; to begin. --
To set forward, to move or march; to begin to march; to advance. --
To set forth, to begin a journey. --
To set in. (a) To begin; to enter upon a particular state; as, winter set in early. (b) To settle one's self; to become established. “When the weather was set in to be very bad.” Addison. (c) To flow toward the shore; -- said of the tide. --
To set off. (a) To enter upon a journey; to start. (b) (Typog.) To deface or soil the next sheet; -- said of the ink on a freshly printed sheet, when another sheet comes in contact with it before it has had time to dry. --
To set on or
To set upon. (a) To begin, as a journey or enterprise; to set about. [ 1913 Webster ] He that would seriously set upon the search of truth. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ] (b) To assault; to make an attack. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ] Cassio hath here been set on in the dark. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] --
To set out, to begin a journey or course; as, to set out for London, or from London; to set out in business;to set out in life or the world. --
To set to, to apply one's self to. --
To set up. (a) To begin business or a scheme of life; as, to set up in trade; to set up for one's self. (b) To profess openly; to make pretensions. [ 1913 Webster ] Those men who set up for mortality without regard to religion, are generally but virtuous in part. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Set; p. pr. & vb. n. Setting. ] [ OE. setten, AS. setton; akin to OS. settian, OFries. setta, D. zetten, OHG. sezzen, G. setzen, Icel. setja, Sw. sätta, Dan. s&unr_;tte, Goth. satjan; causative from the root of E. sit. √154. See Sit, and cf. Seize. ] 1. To cause to sit; to make to assume a specified position or attitude; to give site or place to; to place; to put; to fix; as, to set a house on a stone foundation; to set a book on a shelf; to set a dish on a table; to set a chest or trunk on its bottom or on end. [ 1913 Webster ]

I do set my bow in the cloud. Gen. ix. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place. [ 1913 Webster ]

Set your affection on things above. Col. iii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Lord set a mark upon Cain. Gen. iv. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make to assume specified place, condition, or occupation; to put in a certain condition or state (described by the accompanying words); to cause to be. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Lord thy God will set thee on high. Deut. xxviii. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother. Matt. x. 35. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every incident sets him thinking. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To fix firmly; to make fast, permanent, or stable; to render motionless; to give an unchanging place, form, or condition to. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a spot; hence, to occasion difficulty to; to embarrass; as, to set a coach in the mud. [ 1913 Webster ]

They show how hard they are set in this particular. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) To fix beforehand; to determine; hence, to make unyielding or obstinate; to render stiff, unpliant, or rigid; as, to set one's countenance. [ 1913 Webster ]

His eyes were set by reason of his age. 1 Kings xiv. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

On these three objects his heart was set. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Make my heart as a millstone, set my face as a flint. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) To fix in the ground, as a post or a tree; to plant; as, to set pear trees in an orchard. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) To fix, as a precious stone, in a border of metal; to place in a setting; hence, to place in or amid something which serves as a setting; as, to set glass in a sash. [ 1913 Webster ]

And him too rich a jewel to be set
In vulgar metal for a vulgar use. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

(e) To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle; as, to set milk for cheese. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To put into a desired position or condition; to adjust; to regulate; to adapt. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare; as, to set (that is, to hone) a razor; to set a saw. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tables for to sette, and beddes make. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) To extend and bring into position; to spread; as, to set the sails of a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote; as, to set a psalm. Fielding. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; to replace; as, to set a broken bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

(e) To make to agree with some standard; as, to set a watch or a clock. [ 1913 Webster ]

(f) (Masonry) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To stake at play; to wager; to risk. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To fit with music; to adapt, as words to notes; to prepare for singing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To determine; to appoint; to assign; to fix; as, to set a time for a meeting; to set a price on a horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there. [ 1913 Webster ]

High on their heads, with jewels richly set,
Each lady wore a radiant coronet. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pastoral dales thin set with modern farms. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To value; to rate; -- with at. [ 1913 Webster ]

Be you contented, wearing now the garland,
To have a son set your decrees at naught. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I do not set my life at a pin's fee. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. To point out the seat or position of, as birds, or other game; -- said of hunting dogs. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign; as, to set an example; to set lessons to be learned. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

14. (Print.) To compose; to arrange in words, lines, etc.; as, to set type; to set a page. [ 1913 Webster ]

To set abroach. See Abroach. [ Obs. ] Shak. --
To set against, to oppose; to set in comparison with, or to oppose to, as an equivalent in exchange; as, to set one thing against another. --
To set agoing, to cause to move. --
To set apart, to separate to a particular use; to separate from the rest; to reserve. --
To set a saw, to bend each tooth a little, every alternate one being bent to one side, and the intermediate ones to the other side, so that the opening made by the saw may be a little wider than the thickness of the back, to prevent the saw from sticking. --
To set aside. (a) To leave out of account; to pass by; to omit; to neglect; to reject; to annul. [ 1913 Webster ] Setting aside all other considerations, I will endeavor to know the truth, and yield to that. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ] (b) To set apart; to reserve; as, to set aside part of one's income. (c) (Law) See under Aside. --
To set at defiance, to defy. --
To set at ease, to quiet; to tranquilize; as, to set the heart at ease. --
To set at naught, to undervalue; to contemn; to despise. “Ye have set at naught all my counsel.” Prov. i. 25. --
To set a trap
To set a snare, or
To set a gin, to put it in a proper condition or position to catch prey; hence, to lay a plan to deceive and draw another into one's power. --
To set at work, or
To set to work. (a) To cause to enter on work or action, or to direct how tu enter on work. (b) To apply one's self; -- used reflexively. --
To set before. (a) To bring out to view before; to exhibit. (b) To propose for choice to; to offer to. --
To set by. (a) To set apart or on one side; to reject. (b) To attach the value of (anything) to. “I set not a straw by thy dreamings.” Chaucer. --
To set by the compass, to observe and note the bearing or situation of by the compass. --
To set case, to suppose; to assume. Cf. Put case, under Put, v. t. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. --
To set down. (a) To enter in writing; to register. [ 1913 Webster ] Some rules were to be set down for the government of the army. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ] (b) To fix; to establish; to ordain. [ 1913 Webster ] This law we may name eternal, being that order which God . . . hath set down with himself, for himself to do all things by. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ] (c) To humiliate. --
To set eyes on, to see; to behold; to fasten the eyes on. --
To set fire to, or
To set on fire, to communicate fire to; fig., to inflame; to enkindle the passions of; to irritate. --
To set flying (Naut.), to hook to halyards, sheets, etc., instead of extending with rings or the like on a stay; -- said of a sail. --
To set forth. (a) To manifest; to offer or present to view; to exhibt; to display. (b) To publish; to promulgate; to make appear. Waller. (c) To send out; to prepare and send. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] The Venetian admiral had a fleet of sixty galleys, set forth by the Venetians. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ] --
To set forward. (a) To cause to advance. (b) To promote. --
To set free, to release from confinement, imprisonment, or bondage; to liberate; to emancipate. --
To set in, to put in the way; to begin; to give a start to. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] If you please to assist and set me in, I will recollect myself. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ] --
To set in order, to adjust or arrange; to reduce to method. “The rest will I set in order when I come.” 1 Cor. xi. 34. --
To set milk. (a) To expose it in open dishes in order that the cream may rise to the surface. (b) To cause it to become curdled as by the action of rennet. See 4 (e). --
To set much by or
To set little by, to care much, or little, for. --
To set of, to value; to set by. [ Obs. ] “I set not an haw of his proverbs.” Chaucer. --
To set off. (a) To separate from a whole; to assign to a particular purpose; to portion off; as, to set off a portion of an estate. (b) To adorn; to decorate; to embellish. [ 1913 Webster ] They . . . set off the worst faces with the best airs. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ] (c) To give a flattering description of. --
To set off against, to place against as an equivalent; as, to set off one man's services against another's. --
To set on or
To set upon. (a) To incite; to instigate. “Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.” Shak. (b) To employ, as in a task. “ Set on thy wife to observe.” Shak. (c) To fix upon; to attach strongly to; as, to set one's heart or affections on some object. See definition 2, above. --
To set one's cap for. See under Cap, n. --
To set one's self against, to place one's self in a state of enmity or opposition to. --
To set one's teeth, to press them together tightly. --
To set on foot, to set going; to put in motion; to start. --
To set out. (a) To assign; to allot; to mark off; to limit; as, to set out the share of each proprietor or heir of an estate; to set out the widow's thirds. (b) To publish, as a proclamation. [ Obs. ] (c) To adorn; to embellish. [ 1913 Webster ] An ugly woman, in rich habit set out with jewels, nothing can become. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] (d) To raise, equip, and send forth; to furnish. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ] The Venetians pretend they could set out, in case of great necessity, thirty men-of-war. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ] (e) To show; to display; to recommend; to set off. [ 1913 Webster ] I could set out that best side of Luther. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ] (f) To show; to prove. [ R. ] “Those very reasons set out how heinous his sin was.” Atterbury. (g) (Law) To recite; to state at large. --
To set over. (a) To appoint or constitute as supervisor, inspector, ruler, or commander. (b) To assign; to transfer; to convey. --
To set right, to correct; to put in order. --
To set sail. (Naut.) See under Sail, n. --
To set store by, to consider valuable. --
To set the fashion, to determine what shall be the fashion; to establish the mode. --
To set the teeth on edge, to affect the teeth with a disagreeable sensation, as when acids are brought in contact with them. --
To set the watch (Naut.), to place the starboard or port watch on duty. --
To set to, to attach to; to affix to. “He . . . hath set to his seal that God is true.” John iii. 33. --
To set up. (a) To erect; to raise; to elevate; as, to set up a building, or a machine; to set up a post, a wall, a pillar. (b) Hence, to exalt; to put in power. “I will . . . set up the throne of David over Israel.” 2 Sam. iii. 10. (c) To begin, as a new institution; to institute; to establish; to found; as, to set up a manufactory; to set up a school. (d) To enable to commence a new business; as, to set up a son in trade. (e) To place in view; as, to set up a mark. (f) To raise; to utter loudly; as, to set up the voice. [ 1913 Webster ] I'll set up such a note as she shall hear. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] (g) To advance; to propose as truth or for reception; as, to set up a new opinion or doctrine. T. Burnet. (h) To raise from depression, or to a sufficient fortune; as, this good fortune quite set him up. (i) To intoxicate. [ Slang ] (j) (Print.) To put in type; as, to set up copy; to arrange in words, lines, etc., ready for printing; as, to set up type. --
To set up the rigging (Naut.), to make it taut by means of tackles. R. H. Dana, Jr. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Put. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. (Egyptian Mythology) An evil beast-headed god with high square ears and a long snout; his was the brother and murderer of Osiris. Called also Seth [ WordNet 1.6 ]

‖n.; pl. Setae [ L. seta, saeta, a bristle. ] 1. (Biol.) Any slender, more or less rigid, bristlelike organ or part; as the hairs of a caterpillar, the slender spines of a crustacean, the hairlike processes of a protozoan, the bristles or stiff hairs on the leaves of some plants, or the pedicel of the capsule of a moss. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) One of the movable chitinous spines or hooks of an annelid. They usually arise in clusters from muscular capsules, and are used in locomotion and for defense. They are very diverse in form. (b) One of the spinelike feathers at the base of the bill of certain birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. seta a bristle: cf. F. sétacé. ] 1. Set with, or consisting of, bristles; bristly; as, a stiff, setaceous tail. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Bristelike in form or texture; as, a setaceous feather; a setaceous leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Arch.) Offset, n., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A backset; a countercurrent; an eddy. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A reversal of progress in an endeavor; a reverse; a backset; a check; a repulse; a relapse. [ Colloq. U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Shipbuilding) 1. An iron pin, or bolt, for fitting planks closely together. Craig. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A bolt used for forcing another bolt out of its hole. [ 1913 Webster ]